Rælingen
Sanglag is the oldest choir in our community (Rælingen). We are about 25
singers to day, and we aim for good singing techniques and high musical
quality.

Sanglaget is
a choir with mainly a Capella singing. (No instruments) The repertory varies
between classic music to church music, folk songs and pop music.

Rælingen
Sanglag does travel abroad about every second year. The last travels have
been to Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1999, Denmark in 2004, Sweden in 2005,
England in 2006, Spain in 2008, Poland (Warsaw/Krakow) in 2010, Denmark (Bornholm)
in 2013, and Estonia (Tallinn) in 2015.

Sanglaget has
good traditions with socializing, but tries to keep the musical aspect in
focus.

The choir’s
rehearsals are on Mondays, in the parish house beside Rælingen church (One of
our community churches). New members are welcome all year. Please contact
board or board leader before your first rehearsal.

Rælingen
Sanglag has been members in the central association of NorgesKorforbund for the last 15 years. Before that we
worked all stand alone, but had some cooperation with the local Church. Today
we perform at service once or twice a year.

History

Rælingen
Sanglag was settled the last winter of 2nd World War after an
initiative from OvarSæther.
Organist Bjørn Bjørklund became our first
conductor, and we started out with about 65 members. A great part of the
members finished off during the first years, but the number stabilized with
around 35 members. Sanglaget was among the few local choirs that dared to
perform larger musical works and newer music. In 1950 the choir performed “Gudsrike” (The kingdom of God)
by Ludvig Nilsen in the Church of Lillestrøm.

During the 1950’s the number
dropped to around 20 singers, and the activity was significant reduced. The
conductor 1954 - 1961
was Edgar Berglund. During the 1960’s the activity was limited to only a few annual
appearances, and at the 1970’s it was more like a social club with only 15
singers.

Nevertheless
the Choir managed to perform at every national day, the 17th of
May, at Knut Torstensens stone monument, and at a
few other occasions. The conductor 1961 -1978 was Håkon Andersen
from FagforeningenesMannskor
(The labor union’s choir for men) in Lillestrøm. During 1978 - 1984 Torill Grimsby wasthe conductor, and the repertory was radically
altered against newer music for entertainment. The number of singers
increased then to about 25.

The Choir’s
biggest change happened under the conduction of Birgit Gudim
1984 - 1994. The
number of singers increased to about 40, and there where practiced determined
with singing technique. Sanglaget changed from a pure local choir during this
period to a choir with interests from both Strømmen
and Lillestrøm. Under conduction of Randi Nesbø1995 - 2000, Kari N. Bernhoft 2000 - 2008, Ingrid Dominique2008 – 2015, and now with our conductor from 2016, the choir has continued the focus on a
Capella singing. Our objective is to stay as a medium size choir (30-40
singers) with medium to high musical quality, speaking of neither top division
quality nor neighborhood choir quality.

Additionalinformation:

“Sanglag” = Team
of singers
“Norgeskorforbund” = One
of the two large Norwegian central associations of Choirs.
“Lillestrøm”= Our nearest city. Only a few minutes
away.
“Strømmen” = Our nearest village. Only a few
minutes away.
“Knut Torsteinsens stone monument” = A monument raised as memorial of the first and only person from our
community that was killed in action during the second world war. We meet at
his monument every national day to praise our freedom, to remember that
freedom is nothing to take for granted, that we might sacrifice a lot, and
even our lives to preserve the freedom of the Norwegian people.